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ESPERANZA, Agusan del Sur (MindaNews / 11 February) – In this town named after the Spanish word for “hope,” improving health literacy among its 60,000 population, according to Mayor Deo …
ESPERANZA, Agusan del Sur – In this town named after the Spanish word for “hope,” improving health literacy among its 60,000 population, according to Mayor Deo Manpatilan Jr., has brought hope for a higher vaccination rate against COVID-19.
“We are vaccinated,” an elderly Higaonon couple says. File photo courtesy of Municipal Information Office of Esperanza Dr. Maria Theresa Cacal-Labiao, municipal health officer of Esperanza, said vaccination rates had improved in the two communities as of December 2022, with 15% vaccinated among Maliwanag residents and 60% among Duangan residents.
Residents in Esperanza, Agusan del Sur patiently wait for their turn to be vaccinated. Photo courtesy of Municipal Information Office of Esperanza “We are not giving up in expecting people would recognize the need to be vaccinated since the COVID threat is still around us,” the mayor said in an interview at the sidelines of the Joint Meeting of the Expanded Local Health Board on February 6. The distance between Kinamaybay and Poblacion Esperanza is 70 kilometers.
Section 12, however, provides that the Department of Health “shall issue a vaccine card to all persons vaccinated” and that it could delegate the processing and issuance of these cards to local government units and private entities, subject to guidelines promulgated by the DOH. No fees shall be collected to obtain a vaccine card.
Vaccination rate in Mahagkot as of yearend 2022 was around 55%, or 15% below the 70% herd immunity goal. Labiao believes that several residents may have traveled three hours to Gingoog City in Misamis Oriental to get vaccinated. Guibonon to Esperanza’s poblacion is 50 kilometers away but residents of Guibonon prefer going to Gingoog to purchase goods because transport cost is cheaper than hiring a motorcycle to the poblacion of Esperanza. The western communities of Esperanza, where members of the Higaonon tribe are the majority, have met the herd immunity threshold.
The kits are labelled “Team Eddiebong,” referring to the top four provincial officials: Governor Santiago Cane, Jr., Vice Governor Samuel Tortor, and Representatives Adolph Edward “Eddiebong” Plaza and Alfel Bascug of the 1st and 2nd districts, respectively.